How does work feel right now? New research paints the chaotic picture of the modern workplace

Some shocking new data has been published by Microsoft this month about how we work…

Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index special report paints an uncomfortable picture:

• The average person receives 117 emails and 153 Teams messages daily. Teams activity overtakes email by 8 am. When Teams messages appear to be a more urgent option than email, this doesn’t feel healthy

• 40% of people logged on by 6 am are already scanning emails

• We can’t go more than 2 minutes without an interruption -  another email, chat ping or meeting

• Late‑evening work has surged: 16% more meetings after 8 pm year‑over‑year

• And the weekend isn’t safe: nearly 20% of people check work emails before noon, Saturday or Sunday

• Messages per person are up 6% YOY globally, and over 15% in the UK

• Half (50%) of all meetings take place between 9–11 am and 1–3 pm, precisely when, as research shows, many people have a natural productivity spike in their day

• 57% of meetings are ad hoc calls without a calendar invite and 1 in 10 scheduled meetings are booked at the last minute

• Large meetings (65+ attendees) are the fastest-growing type, which is likely a result of employees navigating increasingly complex, cross-functional teams. 

• The average employee now sends or receives more than 50 messages outside of core business hours

  
  

To quote the report, let these sink in:  “Boundaries are eroding as 1 in 3 employees say the pace of work over the past five years makes it impossible to keep up.” “Too much energy is spent organising chaos before meaningful work can begin”.

Why it matters This isn’t just about long hours. It’s about blurred boundaries, fragmented focus and rising burnout. 48% of employees say work feels chaotic and fractured. In this chaos, deep work is vanishing. It's no wonder that our course 'How to Focus in a World of Distractions’ is quickly becoming one of our most popular.

Image source: Microsoft

Where we go next This is a leadership challenge, not an individual one. We need to redesign the rhythm of work, so it works for us as individuals but also drives results. Microsoft calls it the Frontier Firm mindset:

• Focus on the 20% of work that moves the needle

• Use AI and agents to eliminate low-value tasks

• Create intentional, outcome-based team structures

• Build leaders who harness AI, not get buried in it
  

You can read the full report here.

Questions we need to ask

• What’s interrupting our flow right now?

• When can people really focus?

• How can we use AI to free up the quiet, sharp thinking time our teams desperately need?
  

Check our AI for Leaders resource to help you too!

So, the big question is – as leaders, do we try and survive the chaos, or shall we reimagine how work happens?

Source: Microsoft Work Trend Index “Breaking down the Infinite Workday,” June 2025. Data up until Feb 2025, across +30,000 people globally.